Posted on 11/10/2011 4:04:51 PM PST by Driftwood1
Statement of Terry O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA, On Delay of Keystone XL Pipeline Construction
Washington, D.C. (November 10, 2011) – Terry O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – made the following statement today in response to the U.S. State Department delay of the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline:
Environmentalists formed a circle around the White House and within days the Obama Administration chose to inflict a potentially fatal delay to a project that is not just a pipeline, but is a lifeline for thousands of desperate working men and women. The Administration chose to support environmentalists over jobs – job-killers win, American workers lose.
Environmental groups from the Natural Resources Defense Council to the Sierra Club may be dancing in the streets, having delayed and possibly stopped yet another project that would put men and women back to work. While they celebrate, pipeline workers will continue to lose their homes and livelihoods.
We had hoped the decision would have been made on the basis of economics, facts and the best interests of the nation, not on the basis of a political calculation.
The State Department should have been freed to make its decision, and then allowed the state and people of Nebraska to proceed with their concerns through the many avenues available to them. That would have been a sign of the Administration’s support for jobs and a recognition that workers can’t wait until after the next election for a job.
We are extremely disappointed.
(Excerpt) Read more at nation.foxnews.com ...
I will enjoy watching this play out. Environmentalists vs unions vs Obana - hahahahaha!!!!
The enviros argument against Keystone is that increased tar sands oil production will create more pollution. By stopping Keystone they think they will limit tar sands oil production. This is insane reasoning. They are already planning a replacement pipeline to Kitimat, BC. Kitimat has an excellent port that will serve as the transfer point to load tar sands oil on tankers for the PRC. Production will ramp up just as quickly as if Keystone was built, the only difference is that the oil will go to refiners in China, not Texas. Just to let everyone know, Keystone was not going to cost the US taxpayer a dime.
There is another large infrastructure project ready to go in Detroit. The Canadian and Ontario governments are ready to built a new 6 lane bridge over the Detroit River from Windsor to Detroit. The project is being stalled. Canada has offered the state of Michigan a $650 million dollar loan to build the needed infrastructure on the US side. They loan would be paid off with toll revenue. This new bridge will not cost the US taxpayer a dime.
Meanwhile the US spends money on, among other things, courses and studies to help Chinese hookers drink less alcohol.
Am I living in a Bizarro world?
Except here in the southwest where its pretty heavily Latinized.
(The foreman at least must be able to speak English. BTW, they are very hard workers, know their job and don't cause trouble.)
you ever do this work, or even seen it done...just wondering
If the GOP wasn’t run by idiots, everytime Obama says, “Republicans are stopping my jobs bill that will put blah, blah, blah back to work”...they’d just list all the jobs he’s killed as president.
No pipeline, no drilling in the gulf because of an accident (living takes risk for all the whiny libs out there), etc.
Excellent points!!!
And yes, we are living in bizarro world. :-(
True, but it’s an issue his general election opponent can bring up.
Companies that have to pay union wages get every dollars worth out their workers.
Steelworkers earn every dime they make.
I'm not a conspiracy buff, but when that accident first happened I was suspicious right away of the close proximity of Earth Day, as I recall, it was just after that or something like that.
Our little county was attacked by the liberal "Elf" goons years ago, and I think it was on Earth Day. They bombed our PG&E power plant, and everyone was without power for a day. So I'm more than a little suspicious about ANYthing that happens around the time of Earth Day.
I'm just sayin'.......was the oil spill really an accident?
We are all there:
President Bozo
Sandusky and Paterno
99% that don't know what they stand for
etc., etc., etc.
The stated concern is that a leak will contaminate the Ogallala aquifer. It's a strawman argument meant to divert the real purpose which is to prevent the US from taking advantage of the crude oil in tar sands.
It's true that a leak might contaminate a small area (on the order of acres if it reaches the groundwater). The size of the aquifer in Nebraska is on the order of 64,400 square miles. And contrary to the common opinion of it being an underground lake, its main composition is sands and gravels. A single truckload of crude oil crashing into a lake, stream or river has the potential to contaminate a much greater volume of surface water than a pipeline leak, especially with today's instrumentation and inspection procedures.
It's unfortunate that the state's Republican governor and US senator have bought into the environmentalist argument and are happy to have the pipeline delayed and moved. In the meantime more water from the aquifer is being used to grow corn to produce ethanol or biodiesel for use in motor vehicles instead of human consumption. And the final irony is that the water is essentially irreplaceable; the ratio of pumping to recharge is about 10:1. So in the guise of protecting the water, the nimbys have actually endangered more groundwater than would be impacted by a pipeline leak. But who says politicians are smart anyway; it's all about maintaining power, isn't it?
They’ll vote to re-elect the fool anyway.
No they don’t, certainly not in all instances
I’ve seen Union Labor at work firsthand as a Union member, paid for it personally, and been picketed by the dead asses for hiring superior, cheaper non-Union labor both skilled and unskilled.
Thanks for the background.
What has my personal experience got to do with it?
I wasn’t denigrating the work or the workers.
I was taking issue with the Unions getting their corrupt and inefficient paws all over this work.
They will still vote for him in lock step.
Furious at Obama? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, you don’t say!
How could that be?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.